Sophisticated whimsy

Post navigation

To help today’s post make more sense, you need to know two things about me:
1) In our house, we love the Lego Movie.
2) Sometimes when I get bored or frustrated with work, I change the words to songs to help lighten my mood.

As I was editing a Sunday school curriculum recently, I noticed that the author kept saying that people were “furious.” Everyone seemed to be “furious” all the time. No one was ever frustrated or angry or upset or concerned or mad or infuriated; they were only “furious.” So I came up with this (to the tune of “Everything Is Awesome“) :

Everyone is angry!
Everyone is mad ’cause they’re all Pharisees.
Everyone is angry,
And they live in Galilee.

The blog has been silent for too long! This year, my husband and I have been focused on quite a few major life changes. We will soon be moving to Pittsburgh, and in December, we will be welcoming our first child into the world. With so much going on in our personal lives, some things had to be set aside. For me, the blog was the main recipient of my neglect.

Slowly but surely, I will be gearing back up on the blog. Life will be going in phases, and the blog probably will, too. Here is what life will look like over the next few months:

Phase 1: Pack the house.
Phase 2: Move to Pittsburgh.
Phase 3: Find a place to live in the Burgh. (We have been blessed with a place to stay for a few months while we hunt for our more permanent residence.)
Phase 4: OCTOBER—the month of craziness and travel
Phase 5: Get ready for baby.
Phase 6: BABY

We’ll see how the blog holds up through it all.

Work does not look like it will slow down during any of these phases, however, and I am excited to update you all on some of the projects that I have been working on. Over the next few months, I hope to share a few posts about some of the great work I have been able to be a part of. I can’t wait until I can share the fruit of these amazing writers’ labors!

As you wait for future posts, check out this amazing comic my talented husband drew to announce our pregnancy. See you back here soon!

Katie Kump is a wonderful woman of God, and she has written a book. I was blessed to have the chance to read a pre-release copy of the book and to offer a few suggestions along the way. As of this week, the book is available on Amazon Kindle.

Katie writes from the heart about the struggles that so many girls go through in their high school, college, and young adult lives. With complete openness and humility, she talks about boys, love, being loved, making it in the world, and feeling successful. Through the entire book, she points to the true lover of our souls, the only man who can sustain any girl through grief, joy, and life: Jesus. With strong biblical support, she reminds her readers — women she sees as friends — of the truth that sets us free.

I definitely recommend this book for any young woman. Download it, share it, enjoy it. I surely did 🙂

Today’s post was inspired by the following passage from a book I love — On Writing Well by William Zinsser:

“Prune out the small words that qualify how you feel and how you think and what you saw: ‘a bit,’ ‘a little, ‘sort of,’ kind of,’ ‘rather,’ ‘quite,’ ‘very,’ ‘too,’ ‘pretty much,’ in a sense’ and dozens more. They dilute your style and your persuasiveness.

“Don’t say you were a bit confused and sort of tired and a little depressed and somewhat annoyed. Be confused. Be tired. Be depressed. Be annoyed. Don’t hedge your prose with little timidities. Good writing is lean and confident.

“Don’t say you weren’t too happy because the hotel was pretty expensive. Say you weren’t happy because the hotel was expensive. Don’t tell us you were quite fortunate. How fortunate is that? Don’t describe an even as rather spectacular or very awesome. Words like ‘spectacular’ and ‘awesome’ don’t submit to measurement. ‘Very’ is a useful word to achieve emphasis, but far more often it’s clutter. There’s no need to call someone very methodical. Either he is methodical or he isn’t.

“The large point is one of authority. Every little qualifier whittles away some fraction of the reader’s trust. Readers want a writer who believes in himself and in what he is saying. Don’t diminish that belief. Don’t be kind of bold. Be bold.” (pg. 70)

When it comes to writing, I agree thoroughly with Zinsser. Yet in everyday conversation, I also enjoy mixing adjectives. When something surprises me, I like to tell people that I am “mildly terrified.” In fact, if you were to meet me in the grocery store, my occupation may not be readily apparent. I don’t like to correct the grammar of people I meet casually. Though I wince inwardly when someone says “weary” even though they mean “leery” or “wary,” I usual only mention such pet peeves to close friends.

My husband knows that I edit life in my head, but I strive to be sensitive to the fact that not many people care about grammar as much as I do. For that matter, in day-to-day life I don’t even care about grammar as much as I do when I am editing. I’ll admit it . . . I tell people daily that I am “doing good,” even if I am not working for Habitat for Humanity or serving in a soup kitchen at just that moment!

When we speak, our words do matter, but so does our ability to connect with those around us. I’d rather speak colloquially and be relatable than concern myself so much with the finer points of grammar that I can no longer carry on a normal conversation. Choose your words carefully, but give yourself (and others!) the freedom to make a mistake or to intentionally play with the beauty and fluidity of language.

What about you? What language rules do you knowingly break in casual conversation?